March/April/May - "QUEENS" for a Day

I have not been very diligent on keeping up with the "Queens" and all the fun we've had. This post should get you all up to speed and hopefully trying out some of our delicious recipes. 

LORI is "Queen" for a day in  March - "LUCK O' THE IRISH"

Diana hosted the QUEENS in March and we had a fabulous time... what a beautiful home she has... and of course, was a fantastic HOSTESS!  We welcomed new member - SHELLY - she is a GREAT addition to our group and is perfect "QUEEN" material!

I was lucky enough to be crowned Queen for my POTATOE & LEEK bake in March for our IRISH cuisine.  While looking for recipes I discovered that the IRISH love their POTATOES... so I went with their version of "CHURCH" potatoes. It was very yummy and I had never used leeks before... it's basically like a HUGE green onion.

WINNING recipe for MARCH:

"Potato & Leek Bake"

5 tbsp. butter, divided

2 lg. leeks, sliced

2 tbsp. minced garlic

2 lbs. baking potatoes, peeled (about 4 medium)

1 c. heavy cream

1 c. milk

3 eggs

2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

3 slices day-old dense white bread

2 oz. shredded Parmesan cheese

 - Preheat oven to 375F. Generously grease shllow 10 cup baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter; set aside. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add leeks and garlic. Cook and stir 8 to 10 minutes or until leeks are softened. Remove from heat; set aside.

 - Cut potatoes crosswise into 1/16 inch slices. Layer half the potato slices and top with half the leek mixture. Repeat layers. Whisk cream, milk, eggs, salt and pepper in medium bowl until well blended; pour over vegetables in the baking dish.

- To prepare bread crumbs, cut bread slices into 1 inch pieces and place in food processor; process until fine crumbs form. Measure 3/4 cup crumbs; place in a small bowl and mix with Parmesan cheese. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter and add to crumb mixture; stir. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over vegetables.

- Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until top is golden and potatoes are tender. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Yield: 6 to 8 servings

CRISTIE wins the title in April   - "SENSATIONAL SALADS"

April's theme was "SENSATIONAL SALADS"  and that's exactly what we had. So many yummy salad recipes - but Cristie was definately the winner with her recipe for:

 "Oriental Chicken Salad"

Dressing INGREDIENTS:

6 TBS honey

3 TBS rice wine vinegar

½ cup mayonnaise

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/16 tsp sesame oil 

SALAD:

Vegetable oil – for frying

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

1 cup corn flake crumbs

2 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

2 boneless chicken breasts

6 cups chopped Romaine lettuce

2 cups chopped red cabbage

2 cups chopped Nappa cabbage

1 cup carrots - julienned or shredded

1 chopped red onion

1 pkg wontons

2 TBS sliced almonds

DIRECTIONS: 
- Preheat oil in fry pan at 350 degrees.   Blend together all ingredients for dressing in a bowl with electric mixer. Chill while you prepare salad.
- In a small shallow bowl beat  egg, add milk and mix well.

- In another bowl, combine flour with corn flake crumbs, salt and pepper
- Cut chicken breast into strips,  Dip each strip first into egg mixture and then into flour mixture - coat completely.  Fry for 5 minutes or until coating has darkened to brown.
- Prepare salad by tossing lettuce, cabbages, onion, and carrots
- Fry wontons until medium brown – crumble, top salad with wontons and almonds.
- Toss prepared salad with dressing.

SHELLY was our hostess with the mostess for "MEXICAN FIESTA" in May - she made margaritas for all - what whould a fiesta be without MARGARITAS?  We had such a good time... she is a wonderful hostess - and of course the food was fabuloso!!!

DIANA was crowned for her winning recipe in May- "MEXICAN FIESTA"

Diana was crowned as our REIGNING Queen - and as you can see, she takes that TITLE very seriously! She won hands down with her recipe for:

"SOPAPILLA CHEESECAKE"

Ingredients:
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 (8 ounce) cans crescent roll dough
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Directions:
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Beat the cream cheese with 1 1/2 cups of sugar, and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth. Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape the each piece into 9x13 inch rectangles. Press one piece into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough.
- Drizzle the melted butter evenly over the top of the cheesecake. Stir the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar together with the cinnamon in a small bowl, and sprinkle over the cheesecake along with the almonds.
- Bake in preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 45 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 squares.

ANNE hosted our "SPICE OF LIFE" this month at her home in Salt Lake. We decided to car pool - so we met at Pam's and piled in Diana's car and off we went. I can't tell you how much I ENJOY these ladies company... what a great group of QUEENS we have! Anne has just REMODELED her home and gave us all a tour... she has an older home in the "AVENUES" - she has done a beautiful job of remodeling... LOVE IT!

As always we enjoyed the three "F's":

FOOD

FUN

FABULOUS FRIENDS

Next month's theme is " PICNIC PICKINS " 
We have decided to make it a FAMILY & FRIENDS affair... should be tons of fun!

UPDATES to follow with a few more of our favorite recipes... so be sure and check back and see  what's been cookin' !